Texans-Bengals Preview

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• Countdown Daily Recap: Texans-Bengals

SCOUTING REPORT

Texans-Bengals: 10 observations After breaking down film of both teams, Scouts Inc. offers 10 things to watch in this week's Texans-Bengals matchup. 1. Stop the run: Despite having plenty of big-name receiving options, the Bengals are a run-first offense and Cedric Benson is proving to be a workhorse. His 120 rushing yards against the stout Ravens' front was particularly impressive. Benson is at his best coming downhill and the Texans' defensive line and athletic linebackers will have to force him from getting his pads squared to the line of scrimmage. Houston has struggled in slowing down opposing rushing attacks quite a bit and Cincinnati is the much more physical team in this matchup.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
HOU	5-4	215	188	2-2	3-2	1-2	4-3
CIN	7-3	215	167	3-2	4-1	5-0	5-3
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Houston Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Schaub 67.5 2653 17 9

Cincinnati Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Palmer 61.5 2217 14 8

Houston Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Slaton 116 359 3.1 3 Moats 54 220 4.1 3

Cincinnati Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Benson 205 859 4.2 6 Scott 50 214 4.3 0

Houston Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Johnso... 54 800 14.8 4 Daniel... 40 519 13.0 5

Cincinnati Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Ochoci... 50 735 14.7 5 Coles 29 355 12.2 3

Full Player Stats: Houston | Cincinnati

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	HOU	375.0
	CIN	336.0
Yards Passing	HOU	284.1
	CIN	207.8
Yards Rushing	HOU	90.8
	CIN	127.8
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	HOU	332.2
	CIN	310.5
Pass Yds Allowed	HOU	223.6
	CIN	226.2
Rush Yds Allowed	HOU	108.7
	CIN	84.3

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
Cincinnati leads 3-2
Oct 26, 2008	HOU 35, @CIN 6
Oct 2, 2005	HOU 10, CIN 16
Nov 9, 2003	HOU 27, CIN 34
Nov 3, 2002	HOU 3, @CIN 38

Carson Palmer's late-game heroics have made the Cincinnati Bengals AFC North leaders and one of the biggest surprises in the NFL. The Houston Texans' inability to convert scoring chances is leading to more disappointment.

Palmer and the Bengals will try for their longest winning streak in 21 years when they host the inconsistent Texans on Sunday.

Cincinnati (4-1) opened 2009 looking to show some improvement from a 4-11-1 season that saw Palmer miss 12 games with an elbow injury.

The quarterback has clearly put the injury woes behind him, engineering last-minute drives to lead the Bengals to wins in each of their last three games. They could have four comeback wins, but a fluky tipped pass led to an 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds to play in a season-opening loss to Denver on Sept. 13. That came 27 seconds after Palmer helped Cincinnati take the lead on a 91-yard scoring drive.

Palmer's latest heroic feat came with 22 seconds left last Sunday, when he hit Andre Caldwell on a 20-yard scoring pass to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive and beat Baltimore 17-14.

During his four last-minute scoring drives, Palmer has completed 66 percent of his throws and has a passer rating of 112.8. The rest of the time, he has completed 56 percent of his throws and has a rating of 67.4.

"Whenever one of those situations happen, we know we've been there before," safety Roy Williams said. "With Carson having the ball in the last seconds, I'm putting my money on Carson."

Palmer hurt the thumb on his non-throwing hand against the Ravens, but he feels he can play through it. Last week, he used his right hand to hand the ball off to running back Cedric Benson, the league leader with 487 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

"Not an issue at all," Palmer said of using his throwing hand. "I broke my collarbone in college one time and needed to do that for a couple of games. I've done it before and it's one of those things you do on the fly."

The Bengals are in position to win a fifth consecutive game in a season for the first time since opening 1988 at 6-0, en route to their second -- and last -- Super Bowl appearance. They also won six in a row bridging 2004 and '05 -- Palmer's first two NFL seasons.

The Texans (2-3) have alternated wins and losses due to problems in the red zone.

Houston came up empty on three plays from the 1-yard line in the final minute of a 28-21 loss at Arizona in Week 5. This came two weeks after Chris Brown fumbled at the goal line late in a 31-24 defeat to Jacksonville.

"It's real hard," left tackle Duane Brown said. "In my whole football career, there's nothing like it. To know that you were one yard away from changing the game, it's very sad for us."

The Texans are 29th in the league in red zone efficiency, scoring on 13 of their 18 chances.

One of the reasons for those problems is a ground game that also ranks 29th with 377 yards and two touchdowns.

"You have to have your run game established and as a football team you should be able to get one yard," wide receiver Andre Johnson said. "It's killed us in two games. We just have to take it upon ourselves to get the job done. If we can get our running game going, I think it will help us out a whole lot."

Steve Slaton is having a rough sophomore season, rushing for 231 yards with a 3.2 average per carry and a score, while also losing two fumbles to match his total from all of last season. That's in stark contrast to his outstanding 2008, when he set a franchise record with 1,282 rushing yards while topping the 100-yard mark five times and adding 10 total TDs.

With the ground game stumbling, Matt Schaub has had to pick up the offensive slack. The quarterback is third in the NFL with 1,418 passing yards and tied for second with the New York Giants' Eli Manning at 10 touchdowns, two back of Peyton Manning of Indianapolis.

Schaub completed 35 of 50 passes for a season-high 371 yards with two TDs and one interception against the Cardinals.

He may have a hard time against the Bengals' improving defense, which is tied with the Bears, Giants and Seattle for fourth in the league with 14 sacks -- only three fewer than its entire 2008 production.

The unit held the Ravens' high-powered offense to a season-low 257 yards with two sacks and two interceptions.

"I still think we're a work in progress," safety Chinedum Ndukwe said. "I don't think the defense is really playing up to where it should be playing. We're still doing a lot of things wrong, but the effort and intensity we approach the game with covers up a lot of the mistakes we make."

Fleming: Johnson isn't quiet

While other top receivers like the mike in front of them, Andre Johnson speaks loudly with his body.

FBO: Week 11 Quick Reads

Football Outsiders apply their metrics to Week 11. Findings: Even when Wes Welker doesn't find the end zone, he's historic; Mark Sanchez isn't ready; DeAngelo Williams needs the rock more; and T.J. Houshmandzadeh may have saved Minny's season.

Bengals' fumble hands Raiders last-second win

Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard tying touchdown pass to Louis Murphy with 33 seconds left and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal after Andre Caldwell fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the Raiders a 20-17 victory Sunday.

Raiders' Seymour out with lower back injury

Defensive lineman Richard Seymour left Oakland's game against Cincinnati with a lower back injury and will not return.

June brings Texans leadership, big-game experience

Cato June's jewelry sets him apart from other players battling for roster spots with the Texans.

Solomon: Robinson has strange number, inspiring rise

Even after we saw him make plays, impact plays even, last season, something about DelJuan Robinson just doesn't look right on the Texans' defensive line.

Best wide receiver on planet, Andre Johnson, expected to get better

Missed Part 1? Check out the previous post here . ] The best addition to Texans All Access for those of us who have little desire to stand in large lines getting autographs was the "Coaches Corner" which were Q&As that 610's Rich Lord did with the Texans offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coach.

Texans' Smith looks to bring rush opposite Williams

Mario Williams has become a ferocious pass rusher in his three NFL seasons. Too bad the Texans haven't had any pressure coming from the opposite end since he was drafted.

Texans hoping Smith supports Williams

HOUSTON - Mario Williams has become a ferocious pass rusher in his three NFL seasons.

Chad Ochocinco: I will be at Bengals minicamp

Besides warmer weather, what is another sure sign that Bengals minicamp is drawing closer? Talk about a wide receiver not at the team?s OTAs starts to dominate the conversation.

Palmer: We still need Chad

Carson Palmer has always been about loyalty, which is why during the past two weeks he has talked about the progress of the receivers who are participating in the Bengals offseason program.

Bengals' Hall pleads guilty to reduced charge in DUI case

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in his drunken-driving case Monday, allowing him to avoid jail time.

Odom: I know I have to play better

You would expect when someone adds 28 pounds, that it would slow a player. Not in the case of Antwan Odom.

Bengals counting heavily on Henry

This time last year, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was entering a dark period of his NFL career.